I’m not going to beat around the bush, but this Early Access build of AC Evo has gotten quite a rough start as the sequel to one of the highly coveted racing games that came out a decade ago.
Even with its initial roster being twice as big for its first ever release and the handling model being as refined as even its competitive spin-off, why does it feel like Evo is being “one step forward, two steps back”?
Car-Based Improvements
For starters, I feel a racing game needs to have a proper handling model because those really make or break a game’s enjoyment, much like you would feel a fighting game plays like in Street Fighter or Tekken.
And Evo starts out strong, with the devs using their previous two games, the original Assetto Corsa and their competitive eSports spin-off, Competizione, as the baselines, which makes this new version already quite good with how good it feels to drive around the racetrack, no matter if it’s on the wheel or even the gamepad, nor even which cars or track configuration that you drove with.
It feels easy to pick up and play, and you will get to notice the finer details within the palm of your hands now. Like puddles will make your car aquaplane even more realistically, and when the tires start to fall apart, the vibrations on both gamepad/wheel will gradually be noticeable as you continue driving.
These small stuff do make their Open World mode that’s coming soon much more enticing with these elements making it stand out with being as realistic as the actual car counterpart. For example, some of the cars within this Early Access phase already includes keybinds that you could interact with the instruments of the cars, something the original AC had in a mod, but now has been integrated within the base game itself.
Which hopefully means we could have something like a radio or music integration when they release that big map onto the game, much like how Euro Truck Simulator 2 does, along with the promise of the map itself being interactive with the dev team contacting folks from the Eifel region to be within their virtual map, there is some hopeful stuff on the horizon.
Speaking of cars, the lineup that they have provided for this first release (with some hotfixes) showcase the variety that this series could bring. Like their previous two attempts in Early Access were only one car and track. But here you get to sample not only racing car staples like the Porsche GT3 Cup car, but even more niche pickings like the 90s Honda S2000 or even the recently on-the-Italian roads EV that is the Alfa Romeo Junior.
Kunos knows that their audience love cars that have their own quirks and features, so this current 20 car lineup is a unique tasting menu for the full game, as some cars might even be traffic cars on that same open-map mode.
Check Engine Light On
But weirdly, it seems that the game is doing the Gran Turismo way of doing events and such by making its single-player mode being online only. And with the many headaches that we have seen with other racing titles and their issues with online-only mode, this comes as a disappointing addition to most players who were excited to try out this game, myself included.
Yeah, they did patch it out when the servers were botched during launch, but this sets off quite a terrible impression and perhaps even fear that progress players made could be lost if the servers turn off. Or when they are introducing in-game currency and such when the aforementioned big map releases later on, will they be able to use it or even redo events after its time on the internet runs out?
The performance of the game also does leave more to be desired too, as this return to their proprietary engine so far feels like a downgrade from the UE4-infused Competizione with how terrible it runs, even on the higher end of the PC towers. Although it does however look incredible at times too, so I reckon it’s a case of the Early Access gremlins that they need to polish some more leading up to that Fall release if everything’s going to plan.
Besides all of that, the content you have here is what you can expect from an Early Access release Racing Sim, you can do time trials and racing the AI which I do feel haven’t really changed since the first AC game back in 2014, and as of the latest patch, the Driving Academy that is an evolution from their career mode option, but feels like an easier version of the GT License Test at this early point, but it could evolve by the time it’s 1.0 release rolls around.
And if anything, this impression is quite of an early view for something that could be better, if they listen to the feedback and make the onboarding experience for future players more improved than what we have right now.
Verdict ![]()
Assetto Corsa Evo is in Early Access for a reason, so the issues that have been faced by me and many others might be resolved by the time its release window rolls around. On the basis, it feels like it could be this year’s genre-defining racing title. But so far, it has to work out its kinks before it’s ready for the race track.
Review key provided by the publisher